Marisa
by elfslair
Summary: This story takes places a few years after the immortal quartet and is a whole new set of characters, I don't want to give to much away, but everyone from both The Immortal and the Lioness quartet makes an appearance. It's and ongoing story, so only the fi


Prologue:

Prologue**:**

I opened my eyes and blinked at the shape standing over me and blocking out the early morning sun. 

"Woodson," I groaned, "I don't want to get up yet."But never the less I moved slowly to lean on my elbows but all the while keeping my glare centered on Woodson, who was looking disgustingly chipper. And to top it all off, his brown hair was brushed and pulled back and he was already dressed. 

"Wood sprites should practice sleeping in." I grumbled as I continued to blink at him, trying to wake up enough to face the day ahead.

"Now you've lived with us all your life and we've never gotten up much later than dawn." Woodson said grinning down at me happily.

"You must be confusing me with Nina." Right after he said that a shot of water came rushing out of the lake and hit him squarely on the back of the head. "My hair!" Woodson exclaimed as Nina came rising out of the lake. 

"Woodson, you should know not to talk about someone behind their back. It's rude. Morning sweetheart." Nina said this last to me. She and I watched Woodson grumble about spoiled water sprites as he went off to fix his hair again. 

"Morning Nina." I said. She 'slid' out of her lake and walked/glided over to where I was finally sitting up, the whole time straightening her blue-green hair and fixing the dress on her petite frame. She was easily the most beautiful water sprite I'd ever seen, granted I hadn't seen many, but it didn't seem possible that any creature could be any prettier than she was. 

"Seen Oak this morning darling?" Nina asked as she grasped my hand and helped me stand up.   
"Nope, Woodson just woke me up so I haven't seen much of anything yet, I guess he's not back from wherever he went last night." 

"Hmm, I wonder where he went off to, he made it sound like he wasn't going far from the glade when he left." Nina mused only slightly worried. I scattered my bed, which was easy since it was only a pile of leaves. Nina eyed my makeshift bed and glanced at me but bit back any comment. Normally I took advantage of Woodson's tree limbs at night (to sleep at night Woodson turns into a tree, he claims it more comfortable) but I'd had trouble getting to sleep last night so I'd moved to the ground so I wouldn't wake him. 

"Oak shouldn't be staying out at all hours, he's to old for that." Nina said worrying like a mother hen.

"The overprotective mother bit doesn't suit you Nina." Oak said coming up behind us, causing me to jump and Nina to exclaim in surprise. 

"Oak. Where were you? I was up pretty late last night and I didn't see you at all." I told him as I smiled at him and gave him a morning hug.

"I was talking to a badger." He said smiling at me. 

"Fine, don't tell us!" Nina exclaimed exasperated. I had to bit my lip to keep from laughing. 

It'd been a joke in our private glade for years. Whenever Oak went off by himself Nina would ask him where he'd been; he would always reply that he'd been with the badger. I have no idea what started this but it was hilarious to see Nina in various moods accept this piece of intelligence, sometimes she would laugh and sometimes she'd sigh, or sometimes like today she'd just stalk off in a huff. 

"Weren't you going to go to the market in the village?" Oak asked turning to me after Nina had disappeared into her lake. I nodded that I had planned to, still looking over at Nina's lake, wondering when she was going to come out. 

"You should hurry then, it's almost noon; you don't want to miss anything." Oak told me mussing my hair as we started walking over to Woodson. 

After a few minutes Nina came out of the lake and prepared breakfast for me, none of the sprites ate unless they wanted to, food was more of a hobby for them than anything else. But such was not the case for me, I gobbled down my breakfast and said bye to everyone and went to go find Dark Horse, my best friend. 

Chapter 1

I found Dark Horse by the small river that ran near our glade and asked him if he was ready. 

Almost, let me finish eating, why are you in such a rush? Dark Horse asked as I paced and he pulled at the clover that grew near the banks of the river. 

Because it's noon already and I want to get home before dark. I replied trying not to sound exasperated. 

It's that late? Dark Horse asked choking on some clover. Why didn't you tell me? Dark Horse took a quick drink from the river and turned to face me.

I didn't think I had too. Come on. Let's get going. I said as I climbed onto his back and he took off at a gallop. After a while he slowed down and we continued at a leisurely pace towards the village.

I'm not sure what the village people thought of me or the things I was able to do. I look pretty normal; I'm about 5'7" and have curly mid-length brown hair, slate-gray eyes, a button nose, and normal pink lips.Other than my eyes the most interesting thing about me is my horse.Well, him and my abilities to communicate with, to shapeshift into, and heal animals but most people don't see the last three and are intimidated by the first so the village community tends to leave me alone. 

Since learning how to shapeshift I have started going to the market, I never realized exactly how many different, interesting animals were at the market until I could shapeshift into any of them. Just last week in fact, I had spoken to a camel-like creature from Carthak. The only down side to talking to the animals at the market was that if I wasn't careful the people around me tended to look at me funny.

Wow, look at that mare. Dark Horse said breaking my train of thought.

Dark Horse, could you please stay on the path, I don't want to get lost--again! Last time was enough, thank you! Besides she looks exactly like all the others! 

Well at least I consistent, Dark Horse said jokingly as he swerved towards the field where she was grazing.

Ugh, can we just go, please? I asked. I was just messing with him and he knew it so he kept going towards the field until he saw a little foal come racing up towards her.

Oh yeah, we can go. He said almost sounding scared. I shook my head at him, he was so shy around foals, he never knew how to act around them, so most of the time he avoided them, even if their mother was beautiful. 

Can we gallop, just until we're out of sight, just in case she's watching? Dark Horse said a twinkle of humor in his eyes.

Oh, by all means. I replied teasingly-he was so cute when he was trying to impress a girl.

HEY, coming in for a landing. Willie said flying at me from a nearby tree.

Great, it's the chatterbox squirrel, Dark Horse muttered but I could hear the smile in his voice.

Hey Willie, how are you doing? I asked bracing my shoulder for the impact of his landing.

I'm fine, Willie said obviously in good spirits. I decided to tease him a little. 

Hey Willie, we're going to the market, remember that fur trader? I asked thoughtfully Maybe he'll be there again and we can get some serious bidding on you, I couldn't help teasing him. This was shaping up to be a great day, even if it had been started with a rude awakening by a certain wood sprite that shall remain nameless. (Woodson)

Oh really, serious bidding, huh? Well we'll just see how far you get when I flash my deadly teeth at him. He said gnashing his teeth together and growling. 

See who buys whom. I may be a flying squirrel but I'm as deadly as a lion. Willie said, looking like a little runt fox. I was glad Willie also seemed to be in a good mood, that way it was safe to chuckle at him. For a little creature he sure had sharp nails.

You look so cute, I told him which made him try even harder to look menacing. After some more of the same playful conversation we were almost to the village, which was good because I could feel through my mind-link with Dark Horse and Willie that they were as hungry as I was. 

Hey, Dark Horse, if you go any faster you'll blow my whiskers off, Willie complained, he'd always been a neat freak about his whiskers.

Sorry Willie, I didn't realize how fast I was going, guess I'm hungry. Dark Horse replied sheepishly as he slowed to a trot.

Oh, look at those berries over there, we should stop, Willie said suddenly, almost falling off my shoulder as he drooled at the berries we had just passed. Since we were all hungry I figured this couldn't be that bad an idea, besides why wait when you didn't have to?

So we stopped and I spent some time leisurely picking berries, and mushrooms, when I could find them. Willie just rested on my shoulder, nibbling greedily. Dark Horse waited patiently over by the shallow brook, occasionally taking a drink or nibbling on nearby clover.Just when we were about to start towards the village again, a huge gold griffin came limping out from behind a big bush.He was beautiful, but I didn't have time to appreciate his beauty because he was bleeding badly from a wound on his left back paw. 

Are you Marisa, he asked me in a breathless whisper.

Yes. I said a little surprised.

Please, help me. I was injured in a hunter's trap. He said hobbling towards me.

Of course, I said rushing over to him not wanting to cause him any more pain than he was already in by making him come to me.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Dark Horse had looked over at the griffin curiously but made no move to come any closer.He was very cautious and didn't want to startle this intruder. 

Willie was digging his nails into my shoulder from fear and hiding his face in my sleeve. But I pushed the pain from his nails as far back in my mind as I could and thought about how I could help this griffin. I'd never healed an immortal, but I knew better than to tell the griffin that. So I just worked on getting his mind off of the pain.

What's your name, I asked as I gently probed around the wound and tried too summon my magic. I had decided to not only call on my healing gift, but also on my mage's power. I'm a brown mage, which is pretty high up on the mage scale, and I just hoped that my mage abilities could actually help me heal him. I'd never done this kind of thing before, so I wasn't positive what the results would be. I wished to Mithros that Oak had been here instead of me; he was good at this kind of thing.

My name is Fantasia, he said, his voice thick with pain.

That's beautiful, well obviously you know my name but the squirrel on my shoulder is Willie and the horse over there is called Dark Horse. 

How's he doing, Dark Horse asked too curious to be cautious any longer. He walked over to see for himself.

I'm okay, Fantasia said weakly, I could tell he was lying, instead of saying so I let Fantasia and Dark Horse continue to talk and I pulled my magic closer, pouring the green power into my fingers and gently taking his paw in my hands.

Hold still, I'm going to try and heal you now. I concentrated, more than I normally do since he's an immortal; I focused all my energy on fixing him. Then all I was aware of was an incredible pain. The most intense pain I had ever felt, apparently mixing immortal magic with mage magic wasn't a great idea.

It seems I fainted, because when I opened my eyes Willie was on my chest and Dark Horse was on my right with Fantasia on my left. 

"I'm okay." I said aloud to reassure them, they were looking at me with concern. 

Oh, good, Willie said with a huge sigh of relief climbing around on my shirt.

I didn't know that would happen, I'm sorry, Fantasia said still looking slightly worried, but even that didn't stop him from sounding regal.

Oh, it's okay, it was just that I wasn't sure how large your wound was and I over compensated with magic, I wasn't sure if that was true or not but it sounded good to me, and it seemed to reassure him.

You could have really hurt her, you ass. Dark Horse said startling everyone and glaring at Fantasia. Dark Horse is normally very laid back. I was flattered at his sudden outburst but I knew he was blaming Fantasia for something he couldn't control.

Dark Horse, thank you, but really I'm fine and Fantasia had about as much of an idea that that would happen as you or I did. Dark Horse looked at me chagrined. But before he had a chance to speak Fantasia spoke.

I should apologize I should have realized that it could hurt you. He sounded all of seventeen as he looked from Dark Horse to me, including Dark Horse in his apology.

"Thank you," I said to Fantasia, for some reason surprised that he would apologize. 

And I love you Dark Horse, thank you. I said giving Dark Horse a big hug, just to wipe that sheepish look off his face.

Now let's get to the market we're already very late and Oak will be wondering where we are. I turned from Dark Horse to Fantasia.

You're welcome to come but the locals probably wouldn't know what to make of you. 

Yes, I should be going now. Fantasia replied.

Yeah, I guess that would probably be best, I said regretfully, silently cursing the narrow-minded idiots of the village. 

Good day Marisa, you are headed for an enviable future, Fantasia said as he prepared to fly away.

Goodbye, I felt sad, abnormally so, considering I had just met him. 

I hope I'll see you again. I wanted to say the other half of the traditional Griffin farewell, which he had so beautifully started, but had only ever heard it used once by Nina years ago and at the moment couldn't remember it to save my life. 

Perhaps, it's all in the hands of the Gods. He said finishing the farewell. Then he was gone.

I heaved a huge sigh and mounted Dark Horse with Willie on my shoulder and set out for the market once more. Both were very happy to be moving on.

Chapter 2

"Did you see her," the blond woman asked excitedly.

Yes, I did, she helped heal the Griffin just like you said she would, although how you knew she could heal like that I don't even want to know. What I do want to know is how the Griffin knew to go to her for help? The ferret asked as he searched the tree above the woman's head for something to munch on.

"I gave him a powerful, silent, magical suggestion, he didn't even know he was being manipulated." The woman replied distractedly as she thought over possible courses of action and their consequences, her eyes growing feverish. 

"So she is as talented as I feared she could be, we'll have to get rid of her quickly." The woman said more to herself than the ferret. She was quiet for a few more minutes. 

"I need only one more piece of evidence to justify her death." The woman said, so suddenly and forcefully she startled the ferret in the tree above her.

Why do you need to justify her death? The ferret asked puzzled, staring at the top of her head.

"Because the gods don't look kindly on killing without reason." The woman replied her face flushing angrily as she thought of how stupid that law was, and how it stood in the way of her plans.

What more proof can you possibly you need; she lives with sprites, she talks to animals, and she can heal, the ferret said as he found some nuts and began to nibble on them, making a disgusted face as he did so. He wasn't one to eat nuts under normal circumstances; then again, since he'd met her nothing had been normal. He stifled the gag and ate some more, he was starving, and even nuts were good if you were hungry enough. 

"Just this, how old is she," the woman asked, after a few seconds of smiling triumphantly to herself.

I don't know, the ferret replied nonchalantly, pulling another nut from the branch they were connected to, unaware of how angry he'd just made her.

"What!" the woman shrieked, her temper exploding. " Do you mean you don't know how old she is and you've been watching her for_ two months!"_

Well, the ferret replied fearfully, his nuts forgotten. She looks about your age, if that helps. 

"It doesn't." She stated flatly. " I need something more precise than _about," The woman said gritting her teeth as her eyes darkened and her cheeks got redder._

Well, you'd be surprised how little people talk about their age. The ferret said thoughtfully in his defense. 

"Fine," She snapped, sighing in frustration, "I'll find out myself." 

Chapter 3

When we got to the market it was so late I had to really search for any good food, and all the animals were long gone, but eventually I found something and we started back home. The closer we got to the glade the more excited and eager I was to tell Oak about how I had cured Fantasia, I only hoped he hadn't decided to go on another overnight trip.

"Excuse me," said a voice startling me, it seemed to come out of nowhere.

"How old are you that you can travel at dusk in a place as dark and dangerous as this," asked the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had full blond hair, ice blue eyes, and pale skin, she was wearing a gown that looked like a village maiden's simple, Sunday dress but I could tell it was made of some of the finest material in Tortall.I was so shocked to see her on the normally deserted path I couldn't speak.

"Excuse me," I asked when I found my voice, I had been so surprised, I had not paid attention to her question.

"How old are you," she asked sharply, her eyes seemed to flash as if she was very angry or eager or both but it vanished so quickly that I figured it was just the dying sun.

"I'm not sure I understand," I said confused.

"How old are you that you can be out here near dusk," she asked for a third time, sounding impatient.

" Oh, twenty-six last week," I replied thinking I could be asking her the same question.

She mumbled something that I couldn't quite make out, but she seemed happy at my response, which made no sense, and then without any warning she was gone.

"Hey, wait," I called " what's the importance with my age." But it was too late, now not even her shadow was visible. I know that someone asking your age is not that big a deal but the way she asked the question made it seem as if I had just given away vital information.

Chapter 4

By the time we'd gotten home I'd decided to forget about the woman, it was only one dumb question after all. I got very excited when I discovered that Oak hadn't disappeared. I couldn't wait to tell him about Fantasia. 

"Oak, guess what," I said very happy and bouncy as I hopped down from Dark Horse's back and situated Willie in a nearby tree.

"What," he asked looking up from the huge leather-bound book he was studying, pushing a piece of his thick white hair behind his ear.

"I healed a griffin," I said very proud of my accomplishment.

"You healed an immortal?" Oak asked incredulously. Nina also looked up from the middle of her lake where she was making a water sculpture of a unicorn rising out of the water. 

Woodson unlike the other two had an unreadable expression on his face. I couldn't tell if he was happy or angry about what I had done, his dark brown eyes were masked in a carefully neutral expression. I felt my happiness deflate at the thought of him not being proud of me, but when I looked at Oak again I regained some of my previous excitement. Since all of them were looking at me expectantly I told them what had happened.

"Yes, I did. He came to me and asked me to help him and I did." The pride I felt in my accomplishment was obvious in my voice. Oak was the first to recover from the shock. 

"Why did he ask you?" Oak asked. I was disappointed that was his first question. But I answered it.

"I have no idea. Maybe he saw my aura, and knew I could heal him." Oak nodded absently at my answer and after an impatient moment he realized that I wanted them to ask me something. Anything, just so I didn't feel like I was bragging, which is of course what I was doing, but I didn't want it to sound like that was what I was doing. 

"What where his injuries?" He said interested now that the shock had worn off. 

"He had a wounded left back paw. Looked to be from a hunter's trap."

"Were there any scars?"

"None that I could see." I beamed a little as Nina and Woodson nodded in approval.

"Was it more difficult to heal him than it was to heal that Bison last summer?"

"No, just different. I used more magic, I combined healing magic with my other magic."

"We never taught you to do that. It says a lot that you did that instinctively." Oak was obviously proud of me, I smiled and grinned at Woodson, he was still doing his non-glare. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Next Question." I said happily.

"Were there any side effects for you or the Griffin?" Nina asked coming closer and sitting down next to Oak.

"Well, Fantasia, the Griffin was fine, he suffered no side effects." I stopped there and hoped they'd let it go at that. No such luck.

"What about you?" Woodson asked eagerly. I frowned at him and reluctantly answered his question.

"I felt some pain. And I fainted." I said this last part so quietly they asked me to repeat it. Nina gasped and hugged me when she heard. Oak looked worried, and Woodson just looked angry. I was about to say some nasty things to him for making me tell them, but then I saw the fear behind his anger. My anger died. I stood up and hugged Woodson, he hugged me so tightly that I couldn't breath until he let me go. 

"How long?" Oak asked when everyone had calmed down.

"Just long enough to hit the ground." I said sheepishly. 

"Are you okay?" He asked looking me straight in the eye and daring me to lie. 

"Yes. I don't have any lingering feelings of nausea or dizziness, no blurred vision or anything else you taught me to look out for." I told him. He nodded and we discussed what to do next time I was asked to heal an immortal. Turns out I did almost everything right. 

Later, when we were having dinner and talk of Fantasia had quieted down, I remembered the woman whom I had met in the woods. I told Oak about her and for some reason he didn't react very well and the next morning he was gone again.Woodson and Nina and I were used to Oak and his strange wanderings and just relaxed and had a fun day.Willie showed up so Dark Horse and Willie and I went fishing. When we returned with the fish that we'd caught we shared it with Nina and Woodson.

Chapter 5

Oak didn't take as long with this trip as he had with the last one. He was back at dusk but he wasn't alone, with him was a badger who looked very grumpy.

"So this is Weiryn's older daughter. Nice to finally see her," the badger said talking about me but not addressing me.

"What are you talking about, Weiryn is a God," I said not sure that this badger was completely sane.

"It's nice to see you're not an idiot. Yes, Weiryn is a God and he is also your father," the badger said, saying it like it was obvious and I should have realized it years ago. 

Needless to say, this came as a big shock. I had never really wondered about my family I just assumed that my family had done something good for Oak, and they had died somehow, and Oak and his friends had taken me in to pay my family back. 

Now to find out that my father was the God of the forest and it's creatures was very exhilarating and a bit frightening. I didn't know what was going to happen now because the badger was obviously not just here to visit, maybe he was taking me to see my father. 

How strange to use that phrase, but would I be able to come back to Oak and Woodson and Nina? I didn't want to leave them forever but it would be nice to see my father. What about my mother; was she a God or was the story of my coming into the world one of the tragic love stories of the gods, humans and forbidden love.

In fact, I had heard a story about Weiryn and a woman in a village who had fallen in love and when she died she had joined him in his forest where she was made a God of her village. Did she have a daughter? 

Yes, I remember; part of the story was her decision to join her love or wait for her daughter. Was I that daughter? Could I find my mother and my father all in one day? All of these thoughts raced through my mind in the time it takes to draw a breath. Then, when I'd collected my thoughts and decided I could speak in a normal voice, I calmly asked what I felt to be a very pertinent question although the badger didn't think so.

"Is my mother the woman from the village in the story?" The badger looked at me for a moment before finally replying.

"No, but you are related to her daughter, her daughter's your half sister."This totally blew my mind.

"I have a sister?" I asked incredulously.

"I believe that's what I said," I could tell he was losing his patience with me but at the moment I couldn't care less.

"You should lay off she has a lot to adjust to, in just a few minutes her world has been turned upside down," Woodson said in a sharp voice, I shot him look full of gratitude. Nina didn't seem to be paying attention; she was busy staring at the badger.

"Oak, all those times you said that you had gone to meet the badger, you meant it. You went to see _him?" Nina asked, pointing at the badger; not sounding very impressed. _

Oak smiled and nodded yes. 

"Oh, darling, I'm sorry for doubting you." Nina didn't say any more just looked very surprised and slightly confused.

"I would meet him and give him updates on how Marisa was doing, and he would report them to Weiryn. He is a friend of Marisa's father, he is the Badger God." This silenced everybody, to realize we were in the presence of a god amazed us all and to top it off he was a friend of Weiryn's.

"Perhaps you should tell her the entire story badger," Oak continued, " Marisa has to know if she's going to do all that you need her to." 

Chapter 6

Badger talked all night about my life but basically what it came down to was this; my father was, for a time, in a period of upheaval in the reign of the Gods, one of the most powerful of the Gods in the Heavens. Because of this he was targeted by Tatiana, Queen of the Faeries, she thought his control of the heavens would be longer lasting than it was and he would need a queen, her. 

He rebuked her offer, so she tricked him into sleeping with her and became pregnant with me. She had planned to use me to force Weiryn to let her be queen of the Gods. But shortly after I was conceived the tides of the war between the Gods turned and my father was ousted from the seat of power.He was not punished for his role in the war, none of the Gods were, and everything went back to the way it was, except for me. 

My father wanted to take me from Tatiana when I was born and take care of me. My mother refused and after fighting it out they compromised. They decided I would live with Oak and Woodson and Nina. The trio was powerful, smart, and kind enough to raise me according to my father's wishes. And they were on earth so my mother thought she would have enough contact with me to "persuade" my way of thinking. 

After I was born I was taken to Oak and brought to this glade, I hadn't heard from my father or my mother since. Oak had been secretly instructed by my father to hide me from everyone, even him, to protect me from my mother. 

This didn't sound like the kind of family I had always envisioned when I was little, in fact, it was the exact opposite. After the story was told and I had thought about it I asked the only question that I was truly curious in getting an answer for.

"What powers did I inherit from my father?" I asked badger. I didn't know much about faeries, but I knew all kinds of stories about the gods. I knew I couldn't be half as powerful as even the smallest god.

"You inherited all your animal-related_ powers from you father; your abilities to talk to, heal, and shapeshift into animals, all came from Weiryn. All your other mage-like powers you got from your mother and her Faery relatives," he said mother like it left a bad taste in his mouth. Badger left no doubt as to what he thought about faeries and not much of it was good. _

"What do you mean Faery relatives, what do they have to do with my abilities," I asked curiously, ignoring the sarcasm that seemed to drip from his speech unconsciously.

"Whenever the Faery queen has a child they each give the child a little their gift," the badger replied.

"What if she had twins, would they both get the same abilities or would they be divided between the two," I asked, curious now. The badger looked at me funny.

"That's only happened twice, both times each child received the same gifts as any other Faery child would only the faeries had to give more and this made the faeries weaker than they normally would have been and for a longer period of time," the badger said.

"Perhaps now you should tell her the rest," Oak said quietly urging the badger to tell me what must have been very important.

"Yes, you're right Oak. Marisa you're part of the second set of twins," the badger said simply. By now I was used to the surprises but I still wished they could at least give me some kind of warning before springing them on me. 

"But, where's the other twin? Why isn't she here with us?" 

"Because," Badger began sighing at my lack of understanding, "Your father and I didn't even know she existed until yesterday when Oak told us, or actually warned us it was a strong possibility." Badger replied, he obviously he wasn't a good person to chitchat with.

"How did you figure out that I had a sister?" I asked Oak surprised, "How long have you suspected?" 

"I suspected you might have a twin a long time ago, when your mother made absolutely no effort to find us. I couldn't think of any other reason for your mother to leave you in peace for twenty years. But I didn't think it was a major concern until you told me of that girl asking your age, after you told me I went to Weiryn. 

"We did some magical tests and discovered that you have a fraternal twin, a sister. But we were unable to learn much more than that. It does seem that your sister is well trained in magic, although we're pretty sure she doesn't have your ability to communicate with animals, or if she does it's not nearly so strong."Oak replied. 

We were all quiet for a moment. I thought back to my life, which up until now had seemed if not normal at least devoid of mystery. I realized then how dense I was. My whole life we had had all kinds of protection spells, one of those protections was a spell that made it impossible for any Faery besides me it seems, to see this glade. 

As far as I knew no other Faery anywhere even knew of its existence. Thinking of this I also thought of my twin and I wondered if she was the girl that I had met earlier. 

"That girl I saw today, she's the one you think is my sister, isn't she?" I was pretty sure of the answer but I asked it anyway. 

"She is either your sister or she is a woman hired by Tatiana to spy on you because if she isn't a Faery then she can see into this glade." Nina replied thoughtfully, finishing the thought even as she said it.

"I wonder what she is doing approaching Marisa, you would think she would let Marisa just live out her life, Marisa didn't even know anything until she showed up." Woodson pondered, deep in thought, obviously not expecting any real answer.

"That is another reason I went to Badger with my suspicions about Marisa having a twin, why else would she be asked her age by a stranger? Most likely her sister found out about her and is curious what she's like." Oak said to Woodson. Woodson nodded agreeing that it was a possibility.

"Why did my father decide to have you raise me?" I asked all of them. I knew we weren't going to get any answers to all these questions about my sister right now and since I had many questions they _could_ answer I figured it was my duty to distract them.

"Your father chose us because Oak is a master of magic, he is the first black mage and has more power than any being on earth," I took a second look at Oak; I had never realized he was so powerful. 

Woodson continued, "I was chosen because of my fighting ability to defend you and this glade. Nina was chosen because she is an expert at detecting magic and she is part Faery so if problems ever came up with you or the faeries she would know what to do." Woodson said finishing his explanation looking properly distracted from any thoughts of my sister. I looked at Nina the longest; all my life I'd had no clue that she was part Faery. Nothing like a complicated family intrigue to help you realize how totally dense you really were. 

"Wow, okay, hmmm, what do we do now?" I asked after a moment.

During all of this the badger was just watching but finally "We finish your mage training, to the black mage level then we send you off," the badger said seeming as if he regretted my not already being a black mage. I refrained from pointing out that I was considerably farther than any other person my age and instead asked a more important question. 

"What are we training me for?And are Oak, Woodson and Nina going to train me?" 

" Yes, they'll continue training you then you'll have to stop your Faery family," the badger said in all seriousness. I almost laughed, they made them sound like some kind of crime boss family, but I saw the seriousness reflected on everyone's face even Nina's and decided to take it seriously.

I sighed and tried not to laugh, "Okay, why me? Why can't someone else stop them? Why can't the Gods stop them?" These thoughts had just occurred to me but I realized that they were good ones.

"You have to do it because the gods made a peace treaty with the faeries a long time ago, and it says that if the gods interfere with the faeries without solid proof that the faeries are plotting against the Gods then the faeries get control of earth." The badger replied not mincing any words. Boy, talk about sucker punch, that one shocked me a little. Someone had gotten the one up on the gods. 

"What have the faeries done that makes the Gods suspicious? Why are the Gods going about this in such a diplomatic way, why can't you just hold a trial or something?" I asked trying to help the badger find some loophole that didn't involve me.

"We are doing it this way because the original treaty we made is mostly in the faeries favor because when the treaty was made, the Gods were more concerned with winning their allegiance than with the fairness. 

"Now the faeries are trying to take us unawares. (Apparently the gods weren't that hard to sucker) They are secretly plotting to overthrow us and take over the ruling of the heavens and Earth. They most likely plan to use the treaty by manipulating its contents to help them strengthen their takeover. 

Most of the Gods still don't believe that the faeries are smart enough or powerful enough to do this and the only reason your father and I were able to help you was that the Gods thought that with you being part god and part Faery and not corrupted by Tatiana, you'd be more willing to discuss changes in the treaty." The badger seemed disgusted by his fellow Gods behavior. I was just trying to puzzle out what he was talking about.

"Why was the treaty created to give the faeries the better part of the deal?" Woodson asked. Badger glared at him for a moment and then reluctantly began to explain.

"Because when the treaty was made everything was new. The Gods were just beginning to assume a fragile command over everything and that's when the faeries showed up. We weren't sure how powerful they were or what they could do to our…situation. So we rushed into a treaty and the faeries knew it. They made sure everything in that treaty could somehow be turned in their favor." Now I understood why he had been reluctant to tell us the story, so did Woodson. 

"Basically you're saying the Gods rushed into the treaty to protect their immediate future because they were scared," Woodson said obviously not impressed with the Gods strategy.

"Can't the Gods just go to war with the faeries and break the treaty with them?" Nina asked; she and I hoping against hope that the gods were smart enough to have already thought that one up.

"No. Even if the Gods take this thing that seriously they don't want a war with the faeries because it would probably destroy the people on Earth. The faeries have an alliance with the sprites, dwarves, gnomes and the elementals, all earth-bound immortal creatures, and if the elementals decide to fight the faeries could win a war against the Gods," the badger said giving me the worst-case scenario. I didn't know the Gods could be defeated in anything and I had to sit down. At least now I knew they had considered it.

"What can I do? I don't know how anything I do could possibly help in something so huge even the Gods can't do anything." I said to badger hoping he would be able to say something to prove me wrong. He didn't disappoint me.

"The Gods can do something," Great! I thought, and then he started to talk again. "But it would hurt the humans and they don't want to do that. They need you because you can do something. You're an unforeseen loophole." the badger replied.

"What kind of a loophole am I?" I was not even able to fathom a guess as to what I could possibly do against such a giant conspiracy.

"You're a legitimate contender for the Faery thrown and so we want you to meet with the Faery council and put in your bid for it." The badger explained, acting as if I had finally asked a marginally intelligent question. After a moment of considering the only answer that I could consider, I gave it to him.

"Okay. I'll do it."

"Good, from now on you'll be trained in everything you might possibly need to survive in their world and then you will be sent to stay with your half sister and you will arrange a meeting with the faeries through King Jonathan. This seems the safest and most publicized route to take. The faeries play a dangerous game with the elementals and their other allies and must be careful not to upset them. This means that they must respect the rights of the daughter of the queen of the faeries; that's you by the way. The reason, in case you're wondering, that the meeting will be so publicized is because if you go to your mother privately she might have you assassinated, but if you announce your meeting they will have to respond to it fairly to keep from upsetting their allies." The badger told me gleefully, he seemed to wish that the faeries would screw up and anger their allies, and I was all for agreeing with him, except for the part I would have to play to anger them. I had no interest in being assassinated. 

"What will my training consist of? It sounds to me more like I should learn how to behave like royalty rather than improving my magical abilities." 

"We'll be working on both, and I'll be teaching you the basics in defending yourself. You never can be to prepared." Woodson said speaking over Oak and Badger.

"Okay then, what do we do now?" I asked expectantly.

"Now you will go to sleep Sweetheart, you need the rest," Nina replied. That one set me back a little.

"Sleep? But why not start training now, I'm ready." I knew that the next thing I was going to be doing tonight was sleeping but I still felt the need to ask.

"There is no reason to learn something so late when you will just forget it in your sleep," Oak told me.I bowed my head in defeat, I should have known better than to even try going up against Oak and his unbeatable logic.


End file.
